George w



(No Model.)

G. W. HADLEY.

BREEGH LOADING GUNS.

No. 275,377. Patented Apr. 10,1883.

vfi (a \\\\\\\\\?1 Mum lllll UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE W. HADLEY, OF CHIOOPEE FALLS, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALFTO '1. G. PAGE, OF SAME PLACE.

BREECH-LOADING GUN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 275,377, dated April10, 1883.

Application filed September 6, 1882.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE W. HADLEY, ofGhicopee Falls, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts,have invented certain Improvements in Breech Loading Guns, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to breech-loadin g firearms 5 and the inventionconsists in a laterally-oscillatin g chamber or breech piece having twochambers therein arranged to be brought successively in line with asingle barrel, and in a self-cockin g or double-action lock of peculiarconstruction arranged to oscillate the chamber-piece in one directionand fire the charges as they are brought into line with the barrel, andalso in certain details, all as hereinafter more fully set forth.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section. Fig. 2 is a side elevation,partly in section. Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section on the linea: a; of Fig. 1, and Figs. 4 and 5 represent portions detached.

The object of my present invention is to produce a single-ba'rreled gunthat can be fired as quickly as the ordinary double-barreled gun, thusgiving it the same or greater capacity without the expense and weight ofthe two barrels ordinarily used in shotguns.

To make a gun on my planIprovide a breechframe, A, having an openingtransversely through it of sufficient size to admit the oscil' latingchambers O, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, a single barrel, B, beingsecured to the front of this frame in any suitable manner.

The oscillating breech or chamber piece C is made of the proper lengthto receive the cartridge and of a relatively form transversely, the twochambers being formed side by side in its upper part, while at its lowerpart it is provided with a longitudinal hole for the reception of a boltor pin, a, which is held at each end in the frame A, and on which thepart 0 oscillates 0r swings from side to side, as shown in Fig. 3. Inorder to hold this chamber-piece securely inposition when moved to oneor the other side, I provide a spring-pin, 0, which is inserted througha hole in the lower part of the frame A, in such a position that itsfree end will engage in a recess, 0, formed in the under side of theswinging chamber-piece (No model.)

when thrown to one side, as shown in Fig.3. There are of course two ofthese recesses o-one on each side. The spring-pin c, I have forconvenience represented as being inserted within the screw 1), whichsecures the front end ofthe guard, this screw being made tubular to forma seat for the pin 0 and its spring, as shown in Fig.1; but it isobvious that it may be seated in the frame itself, if desired; anditisfurther obvious that a flat or curved spring may be used instead of thepin with its spiral spring, if desired; but the plan shown is preferred.The recesses in which the pin or spring-arm engages should be soconstructed as to permit the breech piece to be pushed over withoutstopping to release the pin,and which is readily done by beveling orinclining the sides of the recess and rounding the bearing-point of thepin or spring-arm. This spring device will bear with sufiicient force tohold the block from moving accidentally in turning or handling the gun,and yet will permit it to be moved when desired.

The lock is of that class denominated as double-action locks, and whichare so constructed that the hammer can be cocked by pulling on thetrigger or by raising it by the thumb in the usual manner.Ordinarilythese locks are so constructed that when the trigger is pulledthe hammer is first raised and then permitted to fall instantly; andusually they have no provision by which they can be securely held ateither half or full cock, which is very desirable in a gun for sportingpurposes. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the haminer in this case isprovided with the ordinary shoulder, t, against which the cocking-pawl ftakes to raise the hammer, and from which it is forced as the pawl israised beyond a certain point, as usual, and it also has a small hookshown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, which engages in a slot in the pawlf,so as to raise the latter with the hammer when the latter is cooked byhand. Above this shoulder If two other notches are made in the face ofthe tumbler portion of the hammer, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and asmall sear or dog, d, is pivoted in front of the hammer at such a pointthat when the hammer is raised this dog or sear d will engage first inone and then in the other we of said notches, and thereby serve to holdthe hammer either at half or full cock, as the case may be." Theposition of this sear d' is such in relation to the cocking-pawl j thatwhen thelatter has been raised far enough'to put the hammer atfull-cock, as represented in Fig. 1, the point of the pawl will be justunder and in rear of the sear, as there shown, and'in that condition theparts can be left in perfect safety, the hammer being held at full-cock,and also at half-cock if stopped at that point, with as much safety asis the case with the ordinary single action locks, and this may be donewhether the hammer be'cocked by the thumb or by pulling the trigger.When it is desired to fire the arm it is only necessary to pull on thetrigger, which action will throw the pawl foff from the ratchet orshoulder t and force its point up against the sear cl, and between itand the front edge of the tumbler, which will force the sear out ofitsnotch, thus letting the hammer full, there being of course a spring (inthis case asmall spiral one, though a flat one may be used) to bear uponthe sear and cause it to engage with certainty in the half or full cocknotch, as the case may be.

In order to throw the chamber-pieceG over after the right-hand barrelhas been fired, a pawl, g, is secured to the trigger T, and has itspoint arranged to engage against a shoulder, r, on the plan of theratchet ordinarilyused in revolvers, but differently constructed, ashereinafter explained. In order, however, to prevent the pawl fromhaving its point protrude from the face of the breech-frame when it isdesired to throw the chamber-piece 0 back to the left after bothchambers have been fired, this pawlg is so constructed that when thetrigger is raised far enough to put the hammer at half-cock the point ofthe pawl g will be thrown back out of the way of the swingingchamberpiece 0, as shown in Fig. 5. This is effected by forming a cam orprojection, m, on the rear end ofthe pawl g, and arranginga spring, Z,so as to act alternately on opposite sides of said cam or projection asthe trigger, with the pawl g, is "raised and lowered. As shown in Fig.5, the end of spring lbears against the upper side of the projection 11,and thereby operates to throw the point of the pawl back, as shown,entirely within the rear part of the frame, thus permitting thechamber-piece (J to be swung past it to the left without interference.The spring land the projection m are so arranged that the pawl is madeto assume the position shown in Fig. 5 just as the hammer is brought tohalf-cock, so that the trigger can be carried on far enough to fire theright-hand chamber without the pawl g engaging with the ratchetshoulder1', which at that time will be below the point of the pawl; but when thetrigger is let 1 down after firing the first or right-handchamsufificient force to overcome the'bearing of her, then the point ofthe pawl'g will drop low enough to engage with the shoulder r as thetrigger is again raised, and as the point of the pawl 9- will be heldunder the shoulder r with spring I on the upper side of the cam m,itfollows trigger after the chamber-piece O has been thus swung over tothe right the hammer will be raised to full-cock, the sear d bedisengaged, and the left-hand chamber be'fired all at one pulf of thetrigger. As shown in Fig. 4, the spring Zis secured to the inside of theside plate of the frame, so that it remains stationary, while theadjacent end of pawl 9, being connected to the trigger, moves up anddown past the end of spring 1. As the trigger must continue its upwardmovement after the chamber-piece O has reached the limit of its movementto the right,to raise the hammer to its full height and then disengagethe'sear, as before eXplained,--it is obvious that the shoulder 1",against which the point of pawl 9 engages, cannot be a fixed or rigidshoulder, because ifit were the trigger could not continue its movementafter the chamber-piece (1 had reached the limit of its movement andcome to a state of rest, and therefore I make the shoulder or ratchet ra sprin g or yielding shoulder, to permit of afurther or continuedmovement of the trigger and its pawls f and g. This may be done invarious ways; but the plan shown in Fig. 5, in which the shoulder 7'consists of a small spring-rod inserted in a longitudinal cavity formedin the end of the chamber-piece, I find to operate well. In this thebody of the rod is made sufficiently rigid or stiff to swing the chamberover, and then to yield sufficiently before striking the wall of thecavity in which it is located to permit the trigger, with its pawls, tocontinue its movement far enough to discharge the arm, as beforeexplained. This construction of yielding ratchet and pawl, as also thepeculiar formation of look, while specially adapted to an oscillat-ingchamber-block such as shown, may.

obviously be used in revolvers also with advantage, and I so propose touse them.

In order to prevent the possibility of accident by the gas or flamepassing backward from thejoint at the frontend of the chamberblock 0when either chamber is fired, I provide a laterally projecting flange,71;, around each chamber, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, and which willserve to deflect any gas which may escape at that point. The frame isgrooved out on each sidev directly in rear of the chambers, so as topermit a cartridge to be inserted and the shell removed withoutdifficulty; and to prevent the cartridges from dropping out orprojecting soas to interfere with the lateral movements of thechamber-piece I secure a small flat spring, a, Fig. 2, in a recess inthe grooved sides of the frame in such a position that it will yield topermit the shell to be shoved into the chamber, when its point willspring out behind the shell, and thus hold the latter in the chamberor'prevent it from IIO slidingback. The shells can be readily pushed outby a small stick; or, if preferred, a sliding extractor can be arrangedon the sides of the chamber-piece and be operated by hand. By thisconstruction and arrangement of the parts I am enabled to produce a gunusing a single barrel, and which can be loaded with as much if notgreater ease and rapidity than a double-barreled gun.

I am aware that an oscillating block having two chambers in it hasbefore been used in connection with a single barrel and therefore I donot claim such, broadly; but,

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim is V 1. Thecombination, in a breech-loading gun, ofthe oscillating breech-pieceO,provided with the recess 0 0, with the beveled or pointed spring-pin 0,arranged to engage therein, and

the pawl g, arranged to engage with the ospiece 0, the trigger T, havingthe pawl 9, provided with the cam m, pivoted thereto, and the spring I,said parts being arranged to-operate as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In combination with an oscillating or rotating chamber-block forfire-arms, the yielding ratchet or shoulder 0' and an operatingpawl, g,all arranged to operate substantially as set forth.

4. The combination of the hammer H, sear d, trigger T,with itscocking-pawl], and pawl g, with the oscillating chamber-block or itsequivalent, provided with the yielding ratchet or shoulder r, allarranged to operate substantially as described. 7 V

5. The oscillating breech-piece G, provided with thelaterally-projecting flanges h at the front end of its chambers, saidflanges being so constructed and arranged in relation to-the rear end ofthe barrel as to be concentric therewith, and to project laterallybeyond the side of the frame when in position for firing, substantiallyas and for the purpose set forth.

GEO. W. HADLEY. Witnesses:

F. D. HOWARD, HENRY N. LYON.

